


Blue Lips, Blue Veins

by Dentss



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Aquator, Dark Past, Fiona and Sasha are Still From Pandora, Helios - Freeform, Hurt Rhys, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Insecure Rhys, It Gets Worse, Jack Has Issues, Jack Needs a Hug, Jack Never Died, Jack being Jack, Jack is a Little Shit, Lonely Rhys, M/M, Merman Prince Rhys, Merman Rhys, Merpeople, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Romance, Tags May Change, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-23 07:07:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18544774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dentss/pseuds/Dentss
Summary: Rhys is the prince of a Merperson society in the oceans of Aquator. He is one of the most desired and gorgeous princes the ocean has ever seen and his beautiful tail is fawned over far and wide. Rhys hates it all; he hates being nothing more than his appearance and he hates being so lonely.When the Hyperion CEO decides he wants a new 'pet', this all changes for the young prince.A.K.A: Rhys hates his life and Jack decides to get a merman pet to look pretty and so he seems a little cooler when somebody walks into his office.





	1. Lonely

**Author's Note:**

  * For [My Boyfriend Charley](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=My+Boyfriend+Charley).



> Chapters will get longer!

     Aquator's oceans were full of wondrous creatures: craboids, threshers, drifters, skags, rakks, stalkers... all hostile species that found a home here were extremely peaceful and only ever hurt other creatures when they needed to hunt, in which case they very rarely attacked humans. The larger of these creatures would just hoard prey animals rather than feasting on larger prey. The land was calm, something not many other planets had going for them at all. The oceans were vast and lively, full of all sorts of aquatic life.

     There was a tourist attraction that drew visitors from far and wide. Something the planet was known for better than anything else, their pride and joy: merpeople.

     Mere legends to those who had not seen them, merpeople were men and women with the tails of fish and whales instead of human legs. They had gills as well as normal noses and could spend plenty time out of water - though not too much, else they'd dry up - and the shallow underwater cities were more than happy to put on shows for visitors throughout all hours of the day. Some merpeople liked to spend the night dancing and others liked to do it in the day, the awe and admiration enough payment for them to want to continue. Their scales would glimmer and were admired by people around the world everywhere. Some merpeople had horns or markings on their bodies and scales, some were brightly coloured and others pastelly and pretty. Some had angelic and fishlike tails, others had spines that went across their entire back. The shallows were an incredible place to see all kinds of merpeople.

     Deeper in the ocean were the people who didn't like humans. If people ventured into their territories they would be killed, so divers tended to stay to the shallows. The abyss was even crueller, with vile merpeople who would even kill their own kind. They were the scariest of all three levels, with long fangs and disgusting appearances, claws longer than their heads.

     In the deep there was a prince named Rhys. His long shark tail shimmered beautifully, black with markings that changed colour between blue, orange and gold as they were multichrome and showed different colours in different lights, like a gorgeous gem. They could glow and dull, even flash if he wanted them to, and glittered amazingly. He had a single gorgeous fin that ran across his back, no spines, that ran up his entire spine all the way to his shoulders. It shone in his blues, oranges and golds just like his tail but was more translucent. He had blue markings on his arm and chest, beautiful and running across most his body, but the young prince was missing one arm and one eye.

     Despite this, he was desired by everyone in the ocean. Every princess and Queen wanted his hand in marriage. The Abyssians fought over him, the Settline - those in the deep - participated in competitions and finally the Reefic - the surface dwellers - brought him gifts and sang songs to him.

     Rhys was lonely, despite all of this. He had everything, but he had nobody. He only seemed to be an object everyone wanted to acquire, or lust over. He felt worthless outside of that. If he hadn't been born with his beautiful tail and markings and good looks nobody would have even thrown a glance his way. He was grateful he at least had his looks, but he wanted something more than that.

     Hell, he wanted to be cared for. Genuinely cared for. Not just this bullshit that the others gave him. He wanted friends. He wanted _love._ He didn't want to be heard, he wanted to be listened to.

 

     That was what lead him to leave home.


	2. Runaway

     It was a Monday when Rhys left, telling his parents he was just going for a swim around the palace, but he ventured far out to the shelf and when he reached the drop-off he quickly darted down into the Abyss, swimming fast, thrashing his tail side-to-side until he was satisfied he was deep enough and he continued swimming in a random direction, the darkness consuming him. He felt out of his element when finally he stopped moving forth, just floating and looking around. He had no idea which way was which and he quite frankly had given up trying to figure it out. He was lost with no way back.

     Half blind fish often didn't survive as long as the other fish for obvious reason. This dawned upon Rhys far too late. It wasn't the pain of a laceration that hit him but rather the forming of a bruise and he let out a cry of surprise, turning around so he could see the attacker.

     It was a large merperson, circular off-white eyes staring at him hungrily, mouth hanging open revealing teeth the size of Rhys' entire forearm. Their fingers were the same, slender and webbed and they had a dark eel tail. Their long ginger hair and elflike ears and everything about them terrified the prince. He felt the stranger's fingernails digging into his back, holding him tight. They said nothing for a moment, then a croaky voice gargled from their throat.

     "Prince Rhyyyyys." They laughed, pressing their nails harder and causing Rhys to struggle.

     "Get off me! Y-you'll be killed once the King hears of this! Get your claws away!" he tried to push away the merperson but they were far larger than the Prince and he barely moved them at all.

     "You're coming with me~" the sound that came from them could barely be described as a purr but sounded like an attempt at one, and just like that Rhys was being dragged down further and further into the darkness of the Abyss. He let out a cry which resulted in a big hand covering his mouth and he stopped trying to hit the stranger with his tail, giving in.

     The Abyssians were terrible creatures so he'd already accepted his fate, ceasing all attempts to escape. He closed his eyes.

 

     A shriek tore through the water. Rhys heard the sound of something penetrating flesh and the grip loosened from around him. He scrambled to push the stranger away, watching as blood gushed from their chest. A steel spear had pierced through their skin and they were screaming, trying to get it out. Rhys panicked; this couldn't be a rescue party, he hadn't been gone for any more than fifteen minutes, so what was it? Was it an ambush of some rival city? Even worse, was it another Abyssian so fucked up they were willing to kill in order to have Rhys?

     His answer was none of them and when he looked up he saw a group of human divers. They looked professional and well-protected and had more of the spears they'd shot into his kidnapper. He couldn't take them on alone and if he tried to swim away he assumed they'd fire a harpoon so he froze in terror, watching as they approached.

     Something whizzed through the water - tiny, he could barely see it - and then a pain shot through his collarbone. He moved to pull the thing away but his vision was fading fast and he couldn't do anything but let out a small sound of defeat and close his eyes, going limp and trusting the power of the world around him to keep him safe.


	3. A New Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jack being a dick will be coming in our next few chapters  
> again, chapter lengths will be increasing!

     Dark but not dark.

     The water was dark but not dark and it was _weird._ Water wasn't usually this colour. Sometimes the shallows of Aquator looked that way in the moonlight. It took a moment for the boy to wake up. He was floating and his surroundings felt comfortably warm. There were no drafts or currents, just still water. It felt like nothing at all, like there was no pressure.

     For a minute or two he just looked around. Rhys was in a long room and when he turned around he saw people sitting down. They were human, but they were underwater, not wearing any diving gear at all. _What are they doing? They're going to drown in here. Are they already dead?_

     Rhys swam forth, about to reach out when he felt his face hit something. _What the...?_ He recoiled, reaching his hand up to touch his face. It hurt and his cheeks felt a little hot from smacking into it. What was a wall doing there? Furthermore, why was it see-through? That was strange; who made glass walls? He tried to swim up and then down but those walls were solid and opaque so he couldn't see whatever was outside.

_I'm in a tank._

     Panic enveloped Rhys and he froze, staring back at the glass and watching the humans. _The thing they shot at me must have been a tranq dart. Ugh, they probably had their filthy hands all over me._

     He watched as a small brown-haired and lightly muscled man approached the tank, looking nervous until he set his green eyes upon Rhys' glimmering tail. The wonder that spread across his face made the merman frown a little. He was too used to this. People would stare in awe at his tail and his markings then set some sort of price or value upon him based on that.

     This person didn't turn away, though. He pressed a hand up to the tank and, in confusion, Rhys swam down and rest his own webbed fingers upon the glass, looking into the eyes of the human. They seemed to see something in him then, and they met his gaze with understanding and sorrow. _Perhaps he's lonely too. Something about him calls to me._

     Suddenly the man spoke, his voice quiet, barely audible from the other side of the glass. "What's your name?"

     "Rhys." The prince responded, feeling compelled to share his name with this man. He didn't know how or why but he trusted him.

     "I'm Vaughn." The man smiled a little, lowering his hand and crossing his arms instead. Rhys floated back a little from the glass. "Are you hungry?"

     For a second he hesitated, unsure whether or not he trusted these humans with food, but he figured if they wanted to kill him they would've done so already. "Yes."

     "I'll get them to feed you." Vaughn nodded and then he walked away and Rhys felt loneliness set in once again. He felt a connection of sorts to the man already.

     Rhys didn't have long to ponder on it, however, as within a few moments a small hatch opened above him and a few fish swam down into the water. He stared at it and his stomach grumbled in desire, his instincts willing him forth to pursue the little creatures. There were four herrings curiously wandering around the tank, completely unaware that they were about to meet their unfortunate fates. He completely forgot about the humans behind him as he reached out with his single arm and grabbed a hold of one of the herrings. He quickly ate it, not wanting it to suffer any longer than it had to, then he went for the others and eventually the entire group had been devoured. He licked his lips and then his examined his hands and then the water. There wasn't much blood - he was a clean eater - so he hummed in satisfaction and swam back to the glass, searching the humans for Vaughn. The man was nowhere to be seen now, but when the water shuddered he was at the other side of the glass once again.

 

     "We're going to get you out of this tank and put you somewhere else now. I-I'll try visit you if I can." Vaughn was messing with something on his wrist and then he walked to a corner of the tank. There was a hatch there of some kind and he stared at it as it opened up to a separate tube that seemed to lead away from the tank. _Are they transferring me to some other ocean? Vaughn's waiting for me... maybe he wants to help?_

     He hesitantly swam forth into the tube. It was big enough to support his fins and tail but there wasn't much space to swim around properly. There was no way out but the one he'd entered through and if he turned around he'd be stuck, but even if he were to attempt the hatch had closed again. _What's going on?_

     The world began to move around him and the tube was pulled by a couple men into a cart which was then dragged by a robot. Rhys watched as his surroundings became corridors which then became rooms. He got a few glances from those who could see into the cart but he tried to ignore them, floating with his face to the roof until finally they entered a room that was _too_ big.

 

     Something about the room scared him. It felt evil, as though there had been more deaths than he could count with the hands of every merperson in his kingdom. Uncomfortable, he shifted a little, whacking his tail gently against the glass. _Am I gonna die here?_

     A monotone voice caused him to jump, pulling his mind from his fears. "Handsome Jack, sir. We have your first merman."

 _First? What the hell are they planning? And who calls themselves 'Handsome Jack' anyway?_ The tank was lifted into the arms of the robot and then opened from the top. He swiftly reached up to hang onto one side of the glass tube, staring out at the huge room.

     The first thing he noticed was that he seemed to be on some sort of walkway. The barriers at the side dropped off to deep waters where huge statues of a man stood. They were both the same and faced each other, a stern look on their faces. The man seemed to be rather handsome.

     He looked over towards the water. It looked very clean and was crystal-clear and it bubbled lightly in places. There were all sorts of aquatic plants under there alongside rocks. A school of small fish swam beneath a rocky archway. There seemed to be holes in the walls that likely lead to other areas.

     The final direction for him to turn was towards the desk ahead of him. It looked tiny in the massive room. A large yellow chair sat behind the desk and a man was upon it. It appeared to be the man from the statues and he was certainly very handsome indeed. Under the water, he would have been extremely desirable to the Abyssians, perhaps even more desirable than Rhys. A huge window was behind him with a view of a huge planet with strange glowing cracks upon its surface. Water-filled passages were in cylindrical tubes across the top of the window and they looked rather large, clearly made to show off whatever creatures he had in the water.

     Rhys had to admit, the place was incredible.

     When the stranger stood at last and began to walk towards them, he froze again. His awe faded into fear and he stared in horror with his one eye. The man seemed to have some sort of expectant look in his odd eyes. "He's pretty, get him out of that little tank and put him on the floor for me. Fetch me the boys who brought him back."

 

     He would've screamed when the robot grabbed him by the sides and yanked him from the water, but he was terrified that if he even made a noise the man before him would kill him. Something terrified him about this guy and he couldn't quite place it. The robot turned around stiffly and made its way out of the room, leaving just him and this 'Handsome Jack' fellow.

     "Damn, they sure brought back a diamond for me." The man knelt, smiling at Rhys. The prince pulled himself up best he could with his single arm, leaning up on his side. "What's your name pumpkin?"

 _Pumpkin? Who does he think he is?_ "I'm not your pumpkin. I'm Rhys. _Prince_ Rhys."

     "Ooh, they got me a Prince did they? What you prince of, babe?" Jack smirked. _Bet he knows how much his damn pet names get under my skin._

     "I'm prince of the Shivering Dropoff." He replied with venom lacing every last inch of his words. Everything about this was putting him on edge.

     "Nice to know that you live life on the edge." That chuckle angered the prince. He had no idea what it was exactly but this man was enraging him immensely. He just wanted to get that face in his hand and crush it and wait... _why's he wearing a mask? That's odd. How does a mask like that even exist? It shows his expression perfectly-_ "I know I'm eye candy but no need to gawk like that, princess. Now before I let you back in the water I'd like to know what happened to your eye and your arm."

 

     Rhys hesitated as painful memories flashed through his head, causing his entire body to tense as he flinched. Panic set into his heart and he groaned, reaching up with his hand to run his fingers through his hair. "Rrrgh... personal. I-I don't wanna..." he shook his head, then he looked up at Jack, his eyes for once not clouded with poison. "I don't want to talk about that right now."

     An odd look of understanding and sympathy flashed upon the other's face for a moment before he smiled. "Yeah kiddo. I won't pry, had my fair share of fuckin' chaos too. Anyway, I'm gonna throw you in there so prepare to uh... dive or some shit."

     It took him a moment to register what was happening, too full of emotional agony to pay attention until he heard a huge splash and felt pain rip through his back. It drew him back to reality and he sank down, finally regaining his awareness and stretching. He surfaced, looked up to Jack who smirked down at him, then submerged once again and set off to explore his new environment.

 

* * *

 

 

     It'd taken a very long time, at least two hours, to fully explore the area he'd been given. The main area around where he'd met Jack was very pretty with patterns on the floor and rocks and corals and fish everywhere. There were some hides here and there, even a fake boat upside down and propped up by a rock. The legs of the statues were fun to swim around and there was a platform right at the surface attached to the legs where he could lay with his body out of water, enjoying the heat of the room that was reminiscent of Aquator's sun. For a while he played with some of the larger fish before he started to explore further. He found that there were certain parts of the water that were a little warmer and others that were a little colder and it quite honestly amazed Rhys. He was intrigued and enjoying every last bit of this place.

     Scoping out the areas the tunnels lead to was way more fun than Rhys thought it'd be. He found a few bedroom-like areas, each with very soft kelps and corals weaved together to create natural bedding but decorated differently. He'd taken a liking to the one that looked like the inside of a volcano, it glowed in some places with orange but was generally black and spooky. There was a room with multiple floors that was made to look like a shipwreck.

     The final hatch was closed and he curiously poked at it, getting close in an attempt to see in, though he failed and it wouldn't move. He gave up with it and moved on to occupy himself.

 

     Downsides were few here, it was Heaven in Rhys' opinion, but he could still find something dissatisfactory. He was lonely. He wanted someone like Vaughn to share time with. He would've tried talking to Jack if the man didn't terrify him so much, but otherwise he had absolutely nobody.

     When the sound of the door opening filled the room, however, he was filled with excitement and he swam up into the viewing platform's tank in the side of the room. A familiar brunette was anxiously making his way forth alongside a group of strangers.

_Vaughn!_

     He could hear what they were saying and he was full of curiosity. Handsome Jack spoke first. "First of all, payrise. You boys brought me a real gem~" his voice was akin to a purr, though something about it felt off. "Secondly, you took a scan of him when you got him onboard, correct?"

     "Yessir, we got a fullbody scan and an X-ray." The person who spoke was tall and looked rather grim. His hair was neat and blonde and he seemed to be quite the serious type from the way he carried himself.

     "Great. Forward the data to me." Jack leaned back in his chair, then he glanced in Rhys' direction and frowned a little. "When the LoaderBot got him out, I saw scratches on his back. Princess put up a fight?"

     Rhys blinked, confused, then he reached back to run his webbed hand over his back. He winced; there were definitely marks there, sore and fresh. _That Abyssian must have done it... his claws were so long._ Rhys quickly pulled his hand away, hating the pain that was slowly fading.

     "There was another really strange-looking merman with him. They seemed to be attacking him and dragging him down into the trench. We put a spear through his chest but he only passed out so we attached a tracker for research." Another person spoke now. He was also rather tall and looked as though he could be the brother of the grim fellow.

     "Strange-looking, hm? I want him. We could really win over visitors. We should have a pretty one and a scary one, wonder if negotiators would be willing to say no to me then. Would you be able to do that for me, Ellis?" Handsome Jack laughed, sinister and already triumphant. _Negotiators? So he's definitely some higher-up... maybe he's in charge of this place?_

     "Of course, sir. We can head out tomorrow. He looked dangerous; are you sure you want him around your other merman?" Ellis replied, also turning his head to look at Rhys. It was making the prince awfully self-conscious.

     "I'll show him what happens if he messes with the prince." Jack smiled, leaning forwards to rest his elbows on his desk. He was still watching the merman. "Now would you tell us about these strange mermen, Rhysie?"

 _Rhysie. He's acting as if we've known each other since we were kids. He's getting on my nerves._ Despite wanting to stay quiet and frustrate Jack, he decided answering was likely his best bet and he made his way to the water beneath the walkway where he surfaced, hanging onto the walkway beneath the barriers facing the desk and looking up to the men. "Abyssians are horrible. They look disgusting and have big teeth and big claws and eugh, they're dangerous and aggressive. Back where I'm from, they would fight over me, to the death sometimes, wanting my hand in marriage. They don't care about anything but themselves. They um, come in all shapes and sizes but they're just... _bad."_

     Ellis' lookalike crossed his arms, turning around to face the water. "Any pretty ones we should be aware of?"

     "I-I don't think you'll find anything pretty when it comes to Abyssians... there's a prince and princess though, the prince and princess of the Barren Abyss. They have three tails with these red stripes and they look more like beasts than men... they're dangerous." Rhys instantly regretted telling them any of that and he slipped back down into the water in distress. _They're gonna bring those ugly fuckers down here and they're going to_ kill _me god dammit! Why did I say anything at all? I'm so damn stupid!_

     Furious with himself, the merman found his way beneath the overturned boat and curled up, running his hand over his glimmering tail. _If those creatures come near me I don't even know what's going to happen. They won't kill me but they won't play nice. This really isn't good. Oh god._

     "Strange bastard." Jack's laugh made him curl up even more, wishing he had another arm to cover both his ears to avoid hearing even one more word from the man. He just wanted to sleep. "Alright, get rested for your trip tomorrow and alert the rest of your team. I look forward to seeing these Abyssians~"


	4. Bonding Not Bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not my best piece; i've been mourning the loss of a family member so things have been tough.  
> warning for threats [implied noncon] at the very end of the chapter.

Rhys had spent the rest of the day panicking, wasting so much time he doubted much of the day was even left. His heart was racing and he wanted to hit his head off a rock and knock himself out long enough to just forget everything until he had to deal with it for real. _There is a chance I am about to have three terrifying Abyssians in the water with me. Alone with me. I'm missing an eye and an arm, what am I even supposed to do? Is this how I'm gonna die?_

"You had a heart attack down there pumpkin? I don't feel like fishing out a dead merman." There Jack went speaking again. He'd ignored the man the last couple of times but he figured if he didn't answer he'd just have someone sent down to poke at him and make sure he wasn't dead or injured. He pulled himself from beneath the boat and groaned, surfacing and staring out at the man. "Tell me what's wrong before I come down there myself and wring it outta you."

Whilst the thought of Jack jumping into the water fully-clothed was extremely amusing to Rhys, he didn't like the sound of being squeezed to death or strangled. "I'm scared of them."

"Aw come on princess, you scared of a couple weird-lookin fishies?" the man laughed teasingly, standing and approaching the barrier. _I am so tempted to just grab him and drown him. Maybe he'll understand when an Abyssian bites his arm off._

"They're not just 'weird-looking' fish. Abyssians are monsters. They're so self-centered and they'll stop at nothing for their own gain. They're going to do bad things to me." Rhys looked down at his hand with a frown. "I can't even defend myself. I'm useless outside of being someone's toy."

"First of all, you're not just 'somebody's toy, you're Handsome goddamn Jack's toy. Second of all, you really think I'm gonna let them put a hand on you, Rhysie? I overestimated you, kiddo. Thought you'd be smarter than that." It was mildly comforting to know he was safe, but the insults made Rhys scowl.

"I must have overestimated you too, cos I thought maybe you weren't as much of an asshole as you're being right now." He bit back quickly, but it only brought a chuckle from the other man. _What the hell's wrong with this guy?_

Fighting with this Handsome Jack guy seemed to be certainly biting off more than he could chew but he didn't care. Maybe he'd just let himself choke.

"Such a foul mouth on such a pretty princess~" Jack smirked and at that point Rhys'd had enough. He turned tail and swam the hell away, thrashing his tail and deciding to go play with the large fish again to take his mind from it all.

They seemed to pick up on the fact the prince was down and put on a show of sorts, dancing around him and flicking their shimmering tails, letting light catch their scales in all the perfect ways to make it glimmer and shine. Smiles and laughs would encourage them to do more until finally Rhys was far happier, grinning and brushing his fingers along their sides soothingly. _The fish back home would always avoid me... Ugh, this place is good in so many ways but I have to be in that jerk's damn room._

With that thought, he said his goodbyes to the fish and decided it was about time to ease his mind with a good rest. Hopefully he wouldn't wake up the next day to vicious claws and toothy grins.

 

* * *

 

 

It was a few boring and quiet days before Jack reappeared in his office. Rhys had no idea where he'd been, he wasn't sure if he _wanted_ to know where he'd been, but when he returned he was covered in blood. He seemed tense and relaxed into his big yellow chair as if it were a warm hug. The merman surfaced, concerned for the man, and he tried to move as close as he could to the surface. _He's been an absolute dick to me but I can't help but feel bad for him._

"You're stressed." The prince pointed out, then he regretted it.

"No shit." Jack groaned, running his hands over his face before turning to stare at his aquatic companion. "Why do you care, princess?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it. I live with you. Talk to me." Rhys insisted, examining the expressions the other pulled. First came confusion, then anger and then a sudden acceptance.

The usually composed man groaned, stood up, made his way to the barrier and sat on top of the bars, staring down at the merman. "Alright pumpkin. What you wanna know?"

"I don't just want to know things, I want you to talk to me. I-I don't know, just spill! Yell at me if you have to, I don't know, just _stop_ being so dark and let it out. It's strange." Perhaps that choice of words wasn't the finest, but it was honest.

 

"Fine. I... fine." Jack hesitated, then he clutched the bars and tilted his head back. "I went to Pandora. Pretty princesses don't need to know about Pandora but I'll let you in on a damn secret; it's overrun with psychos, bandits, yada yada... fucking awful. There was word of a Vault key. You probably don't know what one of those is, do you? They probably have them on your planet too, but Pandora's got some nice Eridium supplies and I want that. I head out sometimes, whatever, missions, it's cool. So we got a call in, someone talking about these god damn keys, how they're gonna open this Vault and that Vault. I should've called the bullshit right there and then but sometimes the unbelievable shit is real.

Sent my team out, went along with them. We get to the place, looks real done-up, fancy. Nice venue. _Too_ nice for Pandora. I trusted it. I went in with the boys expecting to find a key or a few and there's a group of fucking Vault hunters. Five of them. I tell my men to halt for a second before going in guns-blazing cos these guys are telling me they realised competing with me was a dumbass decision and that they wanted to use their skills to work for me where they can be comfortable and actually be secured, sounded believable.

Then they opened fire. Got shot in the shoulder, wasn't that bad of an injury, whatever. Take down four outta five of the hunters. Last guy's standing there and I get the bastard by the neck and I'm ready to take him down in the most goddamn painful way for trying to con and kill Handsome freakin' Jack and..." the bubbling anger that had been welling up in his words spilled out at last and he let go of the bars, spreading his arms in rage and then pulling them to tug at his brown hair, a wild look in his eyes and a pained smile tormenting his face. "Bastard brought up my daughter! He starts talking about how Angel killed herself to stop me getting to the Vault. Hah, fucking funny right? Starts going on about her and so I gave him the painful death he deserved! I smashed in his head! I made every hit painful and precise and how he _screamed._ The little shit just wouldn't shut up! I took care of that soon enough with an assault rifle! His head was nothing but mush and blood then and I felt nothing."

 

 _Oh. Damn, fuck. I wasn't expecting that._ Rhys was speechless for a moment, just staring at the heavy rise and fall of Jack's chest as he fought back what appeared to be the forming of laughter. The emotional turmoil oozed from him like a toxin. It was almost infecting the prince and he felt his skin crawl.

Despite this, he looked up to Jack and offered an attempt at a smile. "Hey. That sounds really hard but it's okay... I-I think. I mean, murder's bad but what happened with your daughter... I don't know what happened, I don't _need_ to know, but whether it was your fault or not-"

"Oh Rhys. It was my fucking fault." Finally the laugh he'd been holding back ripped through him. The merman's heart ached. "I was using Angel to get to the Vaults, more or less. I was using her for the Eridium and... ugh, it's my goddamn fault. She would work with Vault hunters, turn her back on them for me... then she turned on me one last time and it just... long story short, she ended up hiring some damn bandits just to help her kill herself to get away from me. And the last thing she did was call me an asshole. I am such a fucking disgusting father."

"Jack." Rhys murmured, looking down and then back up. "Jack, listen. I-I don't think that's great but I... I'm sure you loved her. You regret what you did, right? And that makes you more than a monster. You just... have a monster inside of you. W-we all have monsters inside of us, but sometimes they come out and do bad things and there's nothing that can take it back but it's what we are now that matters, right?"

"I don't think you understand." Jack shook his head and sighed, lowering his hands from his hair and losing the smile and the look in his eyes. "I'm still that monster."

"Would you do it again?" the merman looked him dead in the eye.

"What? No. God, n-no, I wouldn't do that ever again. I couldn't do that to her." He looked back at Rhys for a moment and then away again.

"Then that's good enough for now. I get not wanting others to bring her up, that's okay. Memories can hurt." At those words his own flashed through his head and he had to fight back his own tears. "I don't know how to deal with those quite yet, but until then I'm here and I don't think you're a monster."

Silence fell over the two swiftly. It was uncomfortable and for a moment the prince feared he'd said something wrong, but soon Jack stood again. "Yeah. Whatever, kid. Thanks for the chat. You ever need help I'll try give you some wisdom but don't expect much."

 

"Thanks?" he watched as the tall man walked away and was left alone to think about all the information he had just been bombarded with. _God. I can't tell whether he's blaming himself too much for things that happened or whether he's telling the story as fact. Either way, it's fucked up but I still stand by what I said._

Rhys exhaled, then he turned and made his dive down beneath the water, planning later to check up on the man to make sure he was okay.

It was odd actually feeling something for Jack other than hatred.

 

* * *

 

 

Just as Rhys was about to head up to the surface to check on Jack after a few boring hours dragged on, the sound of the doors being opened and a cart being wheeled through broke through the silence and the merman panicked. _This is it. I might as well be dead._

"Handsome Jack, sir. We have the three other merfolk." There it was. The monotone robot voice announcing the arrival of his new tankmates. He was dreading every moment of this. It was going to be all-out hell, he could sense it already. Abyssians in the same room as anything other than Abyssians was a spell for disaster, but humans wouldn't know that.

"Fantastic. I want them on the floor now." Jack sounded different to when he'd seen Rhys. _I'm getting that feeling again. God, I feel sick._

"Yes, sir." The sound of wet bodies hitting the floor made the prince flinch. He could already picture the writhing tails, their claws grasping towards Jack.

"Tie their arms and legs. You brought the chains didn't you?" the lethal edge to the man's tone scared Rhys.

"Of course, sir." Chains jostled and then hit the ground with a clank as he surfaced, hoisting himself up onto the walkway and hanging on with his one hand until Jack noticed him and leaned over the barrier to pull him up out of the water, bringing him to sit in front of the restrained Abyssians. _What's he planning? What if he feeds me to them? Surely he won't. Maybe he can't trust me with what he said about Angel and now wants to kill me._

"You look like you've seen a ghost, pumpkin. Chill out, I'm not letting them kill you dum-dum." The masked man really wasn't a pro at reassurance but at least he tried. Regardless of how comforting he was - or wasn't - the statement caused curiosity to bubble up within the merman's chest. _He must have some ulterior plan._ "Now, kiddos, you see this pretty little princess right here?"

Jack gestured to him and he felt his heart stop when the three Abyssians turned their heads to him.

The first was Prince Rhazien. Easily recognisable by his four wide glowing cyan eyes and bulbs as well as the red stripes on his three long, dark blue snakelike tails. His red hair was wet and his crooked grin widened as his licked his lips with that disgusting striped tongue. His webs flared and he attempted to sit up and wiggle closer to Rhys but Jack kicked him.

"Noo touching~ you see, this pretty little princess is _mine._ And I don't much like the idea of you putting your hands on him." Having such a vile grin on one's mouth as they spoke those words was bound to send chills throughout the bodies of everyone in hearing distance. "So I'll be giving you all gifts that I'm sure will dissuade you from laying a hand on him."

Jack moved back to his desk but Rhys was too focused on backing away from the three newcomers to see what he was fetching. His eyes fell upon Rhazien's sister. She was Princess Noirax. She bore resemblance to her brother closely aside from her green skin rather than blue. Her stripes ran across her entire body, bright red and green. Her eyes glowed a very light pink. One of the features he was more than certain the male Abyssian with the ginger hair as well as Jack had picked up on her large chest. Abyssians had no regard for covering their breasts unlike the other merpeople and as someone who wasn't all that interested in females anyway it made him uncomfortable. Thankfully, she didn't try to move any closer and instead just stared with a malicious glare.

Third laid the merman who had attacked Rhys on the day he was taken. The mere sight of the man was enough to shock him and he stared in complete shock. He wasn't even sure why he was so amazed, he _knew_ this would happen, but it still felt strange and wrong.

Returning with three collars in his hands, Jack was grinning again. He knelt to Rhys' level and reached forwards to clip the first one around Rhazien's neck. He proceeded to do the same to the other two and stayed kneeling as he stared at them. "These lovely things are shock collars. Put a hand on the prince and it won't be very pleasant for you."

_Shock collars? He cares enough to actually have these things made to protect me. This is weird. This is so, so weird._

"But he's Prince Rhys, so desired beneath these waters that I'm not sure we'll be able to keep our hands from him." Rhazien's voice was criminally smooth for the twisted face it came from.

"Then I suppose you'll just have to suffer." Jack shrugged before turning to the merman with a wink. He leaned down, his lips unbearably close to Rhys' ear, and gave a small whisper. "In an emergency, press down on that little triangle marking on the back of the collars. Then come tell me, got it?"

The prince nodded hastily before he let the human lower him back down into the water. Rhys hesitated. On one hand, he didn't want to wait around for those Abyssians to join him but he was awfully bored and wanted to make a suggestion to Jack, so he waited until they splashed into the waters beside him.

 

Things didn't go so well, however, and within a few moments Rhys found himself cornered by the Abyssians. They stared at him hungrily, clearly fighting to resist the urge to reach in and touch him. Their smiles were vile and Rhazien grinned with his hooked teeth.

"He was right, you're quite a pretty one~ We could corrupt you in so many ways." Thankfully - and he was using that term lightly - the claws on the other prince's hand were not at all long, so when they moved to rest upon Rhys' cheek it brought no pain. He began to panic a little, wanting to call out to Jack and beg him for help but he couldn't do that. _I can't let them do this, but what_ can _I do? Am I supposed to just wait for an opening to press that triangle? What if they pin my arm? I'm helpless. Completely helpless._

"Fisherman got your tongue? How cute." Noirax laughed, pushing her face closer to his. Rhys' heart was racing hard now and he wanted to flinch but no _way_ could he show any ounce of weakness to these merfolk. He daren't try fight back, knowing it could end up worse than he expected. "What should we do, Rhazien?"

The blue merman looked him over and then turned away, starting his path away from the terrified man. "We'll leave him for now."

 

"I..." the ginger merman almost said something, but instead he shot Rhys a glare and swam away.

Noirax pulled her face away, frowned and backed away a little before following. "Speak a word of this to the human and what you'll get will be far worse than any electric shock."

 

Rhys stared, turned tail, swam back to the room he'd decided was his, and cried.

 


End file.
